Height gauge



HEIGHT GAUGE Filed Dec. 23, 1929 gwvento'a yam/9% j yacoid.

Patented Sept. 22, 1931 i i- UNITED STA E Josm'n n. .TAcoBs, F.RocHEs'rERQNEw x031:

Application filed December" ea Q1939 s ria 'no; 416,073.

This invention relates to improvements" in height gauges of the typeemployed for laying out work in machineshopsfl It is an object of thisinvention 'toproduce a height gauge of such construction that it can bevery quickly adjusted to approximately the desired height and which canthen be moved by means of a micrometer screw adjustment to the exactpositnin'desired the gauge being provided with a'vernier forfob tainingthe exact readin'gj H j I The above and other objects thatmay'appear asthe description proceeds are attained by means of a construction which,briefly'de} l5 scribed, is as follows: j f f The gauge is providedwith abase to one side of which is secured a blade. This blade has one edgecalibrated or graduated. A jaw isslidably connected with the blade andpro vided with a set screw by means of which it can be clamped inadjustedposition. A projection extends laterally from the upper end ofthe blade and a screw has one end journaled in a bearing'in the base andthe other in the lateral projection. The jawhas an opening through whichthe screw extends. The jaw is also provided with anotchf or opening inwhich is located a nut thathas' a threaded engagement with the screw;and

when this nut is rotated relative to. the screw the jaw will be movedlongitudinally with respect to the blade. The nut is made in'two or moreparts and is held in engagementwith the screw by means of springs orother suitable means and meansis provided foropening the nut so as tomove the. parts "thereof out of engagement with the screw, whereby thejaw can be moved longitudinally so as to efi'ectarough adjustmentrHaving thus briefly described thei'nVention, the same will now bedes'cribedin detail, and for this purpose reference "will be had to theaccompanying drawings in which the preferred embodiment of'the'invention has been illustrated, and in which: I

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved height gauge, parts beingbroken away to better disclose the construction;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line so 242; Fig.

1, and'shows one'means leasing the split'nut; v '-'Fig.3' is a sectiontaken on line 38, Fig. 2, and shows the spring means for holding theparts of the nut in operative position;

for opening or re- Flg; 1 1s a section simllar to that shown 1n 5 F'g; 7a'sectiontaken on line 7 7, Fig. 5

=' --Fig. Sis a section taken on line 88,'Fig. 1. Inth'e drawingsreference numeral l represents thebase of the gauge and'2 the blade. Thelower end of this blade is secured to the base inany suitable mannerandis provided :ononeside with graduations' 3. These graduations may be ininches and decimals of inches,ior it n1ay he graduated in the metric'syste'rmas may be desired. Secured to the u per end of the scale is amember 4: that exlaterally from the scale and which will be refer-red tohereinafter as the laterally extending member." The base is providedwith Fig; 5 is a modification showing another anopeningo'which serves asa bearing for the 'lowerend of screw 6. The laterally projectingmem'br'is also provided with an opening-7 in which the upper end of thescrew is journaled. Screw 6 is provided with collars 8 at itsupper-andlower end and these collars preventlongitudinal"movement of thescrew. Akn'urledhead 9 is secured to the upper end ofscrew'16andconstitutes the means by which the"screw may be rotated. Head9 is provided with a plurality of openings 10 for the 'reception of alatching pin 11, which serves 'tohol d thehead'and the screw againstrotary novehienti' Pin 11 extends into an opening in the laterally 'projecting member in the manner shown'i'n Fig.1 1.

Slidabl connected with the scale is a aw, 'whichhas', b'een de signatedin its entirety by reference numeral 12. This jaw has a projecting 'arm13 which extends outwardly at the bottom of the jaw and ashorter arm 14at the 't op ofthe jaw. The space between of a diametrical plane thatpurge these two arms forms a notch within which is located a split nut15. The arms 13 and 14.- are each provided with an opening 16 in whichis located wedge members or expanders 17. The lower ends of openings 16are enlarged so as to form recesses 18 in which is located the heads 19of the expanders. The outer ends of heads 19 are conical as indicated byreference numerals 20. Each of the expanders has an outwardly extendingflange 21 that can be engagedbyflie Saga-simmoving them inwardly againstthe force exerted by springs 22. The nut 15 is made in'two parts in themanner shown in 3, and is provided with a central openin-g'23 that isthreaded so as to cooperate with the thnmds on screw 6. Each of the twopitta of (b all; are provided with an opening on each side 11 dicular tothe adjacent surfaces of the at. These holes or openings extend in thedirection of chords and each hole is formed from two portions ofdifferent ="-r.. in manner shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In each hole islocated a spring 25 and a pin 96 through the two aligned springs ineacipair of openings. These pins as provided with heads 27 and hold thesprings sion, thereby producing a force. tendiig to close the nut andhold it in engagement with I the threads on the screw 6. The ends of the.imately the position desired. when nut are rovided withchamfemd enmgs28 as showii in Fig. 2. When the 17 are moved inwardly the conicalsurfaces :23 will engage the corresponding conimi surfaces 28 and movethe *two parts of the amt outwardly to such anextent that the nut willbe released irom the screw. After the 1nd: has been moved to irmperativeposting, the jaw can be moved long' somto effect a rapid adjustmentoftbeiaw'towr; rough adjustment has been made, the 123- panding means ismleaseiso that the nut will cooperate with the threads of the screw,after whichthe fineadjnstmenisazemde bymenas of the nut. After the jawhas been adjusted, it may be clamped in .a a! sition, by means of a setThe means for controlling the split nut and which has just beendescribed is illustrative of means afar this purposecan be replaced byother equivalent and as :an example of such I have shownin Fig. 4 amodified construction in the expanding members 17 have been upland bymeans of radial wedges QQ-that-coo ate with the inclined walls of thewedge-s ed openings '30. These wedges have tions 31 that extendoutwardly beyond mater surface of the nut and when assume is exerted onparts 31, the two parts of the nut are moved outwardly in a manner quiteapparent fromthe drawings. 7 In Fig. 7 I have shown another constructionwhich can be substituted for the one shown in Fig. 2. In this modifiedform of nut, the springs 25a are under compression and the pins 26amerely serve to hold the parts from becoming separated. In Fig. 5 I haveshown a longitudinal section of the nut which is shown in transversesection in Fig. 7 and from Fig. 5 it will be seen that one end of thenut is provided with an annular recess 32,'extending inwardly from oneend thereof. The g 16 in arm 14 is threaded and instead of the expander17 in Fig. 2, a contracting device is employed. This contracting devicehas a central tubular portion 33 whose outer surface is threaded forengagement with the threaded opening 16. The lower end is providedwith'a downwardly extending cylindrical flange 3% whose inner lower edgeis chamiered as indicated by numeral 35. The upper end of tubularmember33 has secured to it a which forms a knurled flange by means ofwhich the contracting member can be rotated Since springs 25 are undercompression they tend to move the two parts of the nut into inoperativeposition with res ect to the screwl The inside diameter of t ecylindrical flange 14, above the chamfeted .surfaoe isi'isbf the samediameter as the inner surface of recess 32 and therefore .95

when the parts are in the 1 osition shown in Fig. 5, the nut will be helin operative position, but if member 33 is rotated so as to moveupwardly to the dotted line position, the two parts of the nut will bereleased and will move outwardly to dotted line position through theaction of the springs. It will be seen that with the construction shownin 5 and 7, the nut is held in operative position byfpositive means,whereas, in the embodiment shown in Figs. '2 and 4, the nut is held inoperative osit'ion by the action of .springs and it is t ereforepossible that the parts of the nut will move away from "each other dueto the fact that'the threads are of the triangular type and a possibleerror may thus be introduced although highlyintigrobable that any errorswcu result from is construction as the nut is requireiy to exert verylittle force and is merely used to position the j aw.

in this construction the gmduations on flm'blade have been shown locatedon the side from that of arm 13 and the Vernier is also located on thisside. By so locating the Vernier, it is possible :to bring the screw 8closer to the edge of the blade :3: if the mic! were located on theother For the purpose of securing a marker or scriber to the outer endof arm '13, .I have provided a screw 38 which has an axialdianetriealslot 39 of sufiioient size to receive the outer end of arm13.. This screw is provided at its lower end with an outwardly extendingflange 40 and has a nut 41 that cooperates with the screw. In Fig. 8 Ihave shown a marker 42, which is well adapted for use with this type ofgauge and which consists of a steel plate having one end rounded andground to a sharp edge as indicated by reference numeral 4:3 andprovided at its other end with a notch or opening 44 that is adapted toreceive the clamping screw 38. The other end of this marker is alsoprovided with a sharp edge as indicated by reference numeral 45.Although this particular marker has been found to be very satisfactoryit can be replaced by any other suitable marker as this is immaterial sofar as my invention is concerned.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced aheight gauge of such construction that the jaw can be readily adjustedlongitudinally of the blade with a very small expenditure of time, andtherefore adjustments can be more quickly made than with the ordinarytype. In addition to the saving of time that can be effected by means ofthis tool, it is also less liable to move accidentally than the ordinarytools of this type which depend entirely upon a set screw for holdingthem in adjusted position. In my construction the screw is alwaysconnected with the nut 15 except during the times when the j aw is movedand therefore there is no danger of accidental movement. The set screwshown in Fig. 1 is not absolutely necessary with my construction, but isprovided as it is sometimes convenient to lock the jaw as rigidly aspossible to the blade. The jaw can be moved either by rotating 15 or byrotating the screw and when the latter is to be rotated, the pin 11 isremoved and the screw is rotated by applying the fingers to the knurledhead 9 and holding nut 15 against rotation.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. A height gauge comprising, in combination, a base, a blade having oneend secured to the base, the other end of the blade having a lateralprojection, a screw having one end journaled in the base and the otherend journaled in the lateral projection, means for holding the screwagainst longitudinal movement, a jaw slidably connected with the blade,the jaw having an opening for the screw, a split nut rotatably connectedwith the jaw and with the screw, means for normally holding the nut inengagement with the screw, and means for spreading the nut so as torelease it from engagement with the screw whereby the jaw can be movedin the direction of the length of the screw.

2. A height gauge comprising, in combination, a base, a blade having oneend secured to the base, the other end of the blade having a lateralprojection, a screw having one end journaled in a bearing in the baseand the other end journaled in a bearing in the lateral projection,means for holding the screw against movement in the direction of itsaxis, a jaw slidably connected with the blade, the jaw having an openingthrough which the screwextends, the jaw having also an opening for thereception of a nut, a split nut in the opening and mounted for rotationtherein, resilient means for holding the nut normally in operativeengagement with the screw, and means for spreading the nut so as torelease it from the screw whereby the jaw can be moved along the screw.

3. A height gauge comprising, in combination, abase, a blade having oneend secured to the base, the other end of the blade having a lateralprojection, a screw having one end j ournaled in the base and the otherend journaled in the lateral projection, means for holdingthe screwagainst movement in the direction of its length, means secured to oneend of the screw for rotating it about its axis, a jaw member slidablyconnected with the blade and movable along the latter, the jaw having anopening through which the screw extends and another opening for thereception of a nut, a split nut located in the last named opening andoperatively mounted for rotation therein, the nut being associated withthe screw whereby when the nut and the screw are rotated relative toeach other the jaw will be moved along the blade, and means forreleasing the nut from the screw whereby the jaw can be moved along theblade so as to effect a rough adjustment.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JOSEPH H. JACOBS.

